Pedal and beater attachment for bass drums.



Patented Dec. 23, I902.

A. F. LANGENOHL'. PEDAL AND BEATEB ATTACHMENT FOB BASS DRUMS.

(Application filed I'm. 13, 1902.)

2 Sheais-Shaet (llo Modal.)

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UNTTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST F. LANGENOHL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PEDAL AND BEATER ATTACHMENT FOR BASS DRUMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,437, dated December23, 1902.

Application filed January 13, 1902- Serial No. 89,571. (No model.)

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST F. LANGENOHL, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Pedal and BeaterAttachments for Bass Drums, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the pedal and beater attachments for a bass drumand combined cymbal, and has for its object to regulate and improve thetone of the drum and cymbal and to enable the parts to be quicklyapplied to and adjusted or removed from the drum, as desired.

The invention consists in features of novelty, as hereinafter describedand claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, whereon Figure 1 is a front end elevation ofa bass drum having my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2, a top planthereof; Fig. 3, afrontview, to enlarged scale, of the lever, having thedrum and cymbal beaters, with its fulcrum and attachment to the drum,(broken away;) Fig. 4, a top plan of the same as seen in Fig. 2,enlarged; Fig. 5, a side view thereof omitting the cymbal-beater and itsappendages; Fig. 6, a front view, to enlarged scale, of thecymbal-holder, with its attachment to the drum, (broken away,) as seenin Fig. 1; Fig. 7, a cross-section thereof on line 77 in Fig. 6; Fig. 8,a top plan of the same; and Fig. 9, a cross-sectionithrough the holderon line 9 9 in Fig. 6, showing the attachment of the cymbal (brokenaway) thereto.

Like letters and numerals of reference denote like parts in all thefigures.

D represents a bass drum having the usual heads 1, shell 2, hoops 3 3,and drum-rods 4:. The drum D is supported in the upright position of theheads 1 at a suitable distance from the floor by legs a, which inclinedownward and outward from the drum D and are formed at the top with jaws5, which straddle the outer edge portions of the hoops 3 3 and arepreferably removably secured thereto by set-screws 5, the lower ends ofthe legs ct bearing on the floor, whereby the ordinary wood support forthe drum is dispensed with and the tone of the drum improved.

1) represents the pedal, which is preferably made in two parts-to wit,the sole part 6 and the heel part 7hinged together to form the completepedal on the bent free end circular portions of two opposite rods orbrackets 8, one on each side of the sole part 6, each rod Sbeing hingedat its other end, adjacent to the drum D, to a holder 9, having a jaw9', which straddles the bottom edge portion of the hoop 3 and isremovably secured thereto by a set-screw 10, whereby the rods 8, betweenwhich in the operation of the drum D the sole part 6 of the pedal 1)plays, can be extended with the latter and heel part 7 into a horizontalposition or turned up out of the way toward the drum-head 1 when not inuse. The pedal 17 is connected by a cord or chain 11 in the usual mannerto a lever c of the first order, which is preferablypivoted on a pin 12,between the sides or branches of a bifurcated fulcrum 13, the pin 12passing through the said sides and lever c and having at one end a head12, which bears against the corresponding side of the fulcrum13,whileits other end is screw-th readed into the other side of thefulcrum 13,Whereby on turning the pin 12 byits head 12 the sides ofthefulcrum 13 are more or less constrained toward each other, and therebytake up any undue lateral play of the lever c on its pin 12 formaintaining a steady and uniform movement of the lever c in the plane ofits vibration. Each side of the fulcrum 13 is preferably formed with ajaw 13, which straddles the upper edge portion of the front hoop 3 andis removably secured thereto by a set-screw 14, whereby the lever c,with its fulcrum 13, can be quickly attached to any part,circumferentially, of the hoop 3 without the necessityof drilling holestherethrough, as in the ordinary construction; or, if desired, thefulcrum 13 may be otherwise formed and the lever c pivoted thereto inany suitable manner.

On the lower arm 15 of the lover a, which is preferably circular incross-section, is fitted the drum-beater d, which is preferably adaptedto slide along the arm 15 and may be secured thereto at any desiredpoint, according to the size of the drum D, by a sleeve 16, whichsurrounds and is movable along the arm 15 and secured thereto byaset-screw 17, the upper end of the sleeve 16 bearing against the lowerend of the beater d. The beater d may be of ordinary construction andmaterial, but preferably egg-shaped, composed of a central core 18, ofsome suitable light and solid material, such as wood, having anenvelop19 of felt,which is overlaid with chamois leather 20 or othersuitable material, whereby a soft resonant blow is produced on thedrum-head 1.

From the upper side or branch of a jaw 21, which straddles and isremovably secured by a set-screw 22 to the outer edge portion of therear hoop 3', opposite to the lever 0, projects part way across the drumD, directly toward the lever c in the plane of its vibration, apreferably-circular rod 23, having its free end adjacent to the upperarm 24 of the lever c, which projects above the front hoop 3 and isconnected bya spiral spring 25 to a sleeve 26, which surrounds and isadapted to be moved along the rod 23, to which it is secured at anydesired point by a set-screw 27. By this means the initial angle orposition of the lever c relatively to the drum-head 1 can be varied forproducing a quicker action of the drumbeater d, and thereby improvingthe tone of the drum and enabling the piano and fortissimo notes to bemore easily obtained than by the present construction, in which thelever is set by its spring in one position only.

'6 is the cymbal-holder, which consists of a lug or bracket 28, having ajaw 29, which straddles the outer edge portion of the hoop 3 and isremovably secured thereto by a setscrew 30. The stem 31, which dependsfrom the lug 28, is formed at its upper end with a circular shank 32,having a shoulder 33 and rotatably adjustable within a correspondinghole formed through the lug 28, the shoulder 33 hearing against theunder side of the lug 28. The stem 31 is secured to the lug 28 by aset-screw 34, which engages in a correspondingly-threaded hole in theupper end of the shank 32 and is formed with a shoulder 35, which whenturned home by the action of the screw 34 against the top of the lug 2tightens the shoulder 33 and stem 31 to the lug 28. The cymbal fissecured to the lower free end of the stem 31 by a set-screw 36, whichpasses through a central hole in the cymbal f and engages in a threadedhole in the face 37 of the stem 31, a washer 38 being placed around thescrew 36, between its shoulder 39 and the cymbalfand between the latterand the face 37. By this construction the holder 6, with the cymbal f,can be attached to any part circumferentially of the hoop 3, and by theswivel movement of the stem 31 in the lug 28 the cymbalfcan be adjustedto any angle or position relatively to the drumhead 1.

The cymbal-beater g is pivoted on and radially adjustable to the leverc, and consists, preferably, of an arm 40, formed at one end with a hub41, which surrounds and is adapted to be moved along the arm 15 of thelever 0, between its fulcrum and the drum-beater d, the arm 40projecting from the hub 41 at,

the arm 15, the sleeve 44 being secured to the latter at anydesiredpoint by a set-screw 45. Above the hub 41,at a suitable distancetherefrom, is a second sleeve 46, which is also movable along the arm 15and may be secured thereto at any desired point by a set-screw 47.Surrounding the arm 15, between the sleeve 46 and the hub 41, is aspiral spring 48, which normally presses upon and holds the hub 41 withits teeth 43 in engagement with the teeth 43 of the sleeve 44. By thisconstruction on raising the hub 41 until its teeth 43 are out ofengagement with the teeth 43 of the sleeve 44 and adjusting thecymbal-beater g to its desired position radially to the lever c andrelatively to the cymbalf the hub 41 is then lowered, so that its teeth43 rengage with the teeth 43, in which position the hub 41 andcymbal-beater g will be firmly held by the pressure of the spring 48against the hub 41. By this means also the cymbal-beater g can be turnedaround the arm 15 out of engagement with the cymbalfand held in thatposition when the drum is used Without the cymbal.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a bass drum, of a lever having its fulcrumattached to the drum, one arm of the lever having the dru m-beater,a rodfixed at one end to the drum and extending therefrom toward the lever inthe plane of its vibration, a sleeve surrounding and movable along thesaid rod, a spring connecting the sleeve to the other arm of the lever,means for fixing the sleeve to the said rod, and a cord connecting thelever to a pedal having its holder attached to the drum, substantiallyas described.

2. The combination with a bass drum, of a lever having its fulcrumremovably secured to the drum, one arm of the lever having thedrum-beater, a rod removably secured at one end to the drum andextending therefrom toward the lever in the plane of its vibration, asleeve surrounding, and movable along the said rod, a spring connectingthe sleeve to the other arm of the lever, means for securing the sleeveto the said rod, and a cord connecting the lever to a pedal having itsholder removably secured to the drum, substantially as described.

3. The combination witha bass drum, of a lever, a bifurcated fulcrumstraddling the le- Ver and attached to the drum, a pin passing throughone side of the said fulcrum and through the lever, the said pin havinga head bearing against the said side, and having a screw-threaded endportion engaging in the IIO other side of the fulcrum, one arm of thelever having the drum-beater, a spring connecting the otherarm of thelever to the drum, a suitable pedal, a holder for the pedal, the saidholder being attached to the drum, and a cord connecting the pedal tothe lever, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a bass drum, of two opposite rods hinged atone'end respectively to the drum, and a pedal made in two parts hingedto each other on, and between the other ends of the said rods,substantially as described.

5. The combination with a bass drum, of a lever havingits fulcrumattached to the drum, adru m-beateradapted to slide along thelever, asleeve surrounding and movable along the lever into engagement with thesaid beater, and means for fixing the sleeve to the lever, substantiallyas described.

6. The combination with a bass drum and cymbal, of aleverhaving itsfulcrum attached to the drum and having the drum-beater, a springconnecting the lever to the drum, a suitable pedal, a holder for thepedal, the said holder being attached to the drum, a cord connecting thepedal to the lever, a cymbal-beater having an arm pivoted on, andradially adjustable to the lever, the said arm having a hub surrounding,and movable along the lever, teeth on the said hub, two sleevessurrounding, and movable along the lever, one of the said sleeves havingteeth adapted to engage the teeth of the hub, a spring between the huband the other sleeve, and means for fixing the said sleeves to thelever, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

AUGUST F. LANGENOHL.

Witnesses:

G. L. BELFRY, EDW'ARD W. FURRELL.

